Questions #5
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Northside Church
Questions Jesus Asked #5
Jamey Mills
1/1/23
Thanks Bobby.
I appreciate you sharing.
Just a quick reminder, that NS is making the move from an MT to an elder board on Feb. 5th. We’ve talked a lot about that… and there will be more info to come. But if you have any questions please feel free to email them to the office.
Bobby has been serving on the MT and is a candidate for the elder board… encourage you to get to know him.
Happy New YEAR!!
My name is Jamey Mills, I’m the lead pastor here at Northside.
So excited to be here with you all today… and so excited to start 2023 off the right way. I can’t tell you how excited I am… looking at the year ahead with some of the things I think are coming our way… 2023 is going to be a great year.
New year is often a timed where people do a lot of reflecting…
This is the last sermon in our series… the questions Jesus asked…
We’ve learned that Jesus did this a lot. He often used questions to help people walk through… wrestle with… and discover important truths…
Good teachers I believe do that.
One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
The man answered, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Lawyer in the passage is referring to an expert in the Jewish religious law, probably a Pharisee.
And this idea of testing Jesus… really could mean a couple of things. He was trying to figure out who Jesus was… or… He was trying to trip Jesus up… to publicly discredit and embarrass Him.
What must I do to be saved… that's a legit question when it comes from the right heart.
And Jesus’ question to Him… what does God’s Word say… and he knew. This guy knew the answer. It wasn’t that he didn’t know… so what was the issue?
Love God… with your heart, soul, mind and strength…
This basically means… all that you are and all that you have… it’s seeking Him and His kingdom first in your life and align your life with it…
And loving your neighbor as yourself…
The man pushed back… who is my neighbor…
And the sense is almost like… what's the bare minimum… what's the least I can do… What are the limits of who and how I care…
And Jesus answered him by telling a story… a parable…
Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
About 17 miles of incredibly steep and rugged road… and it was evidently notorious for things just like this. Jesus is incredibly intentional about the details of this story… He wants you to know that this is a Jewish man… walking a popular but dangerous road… that was robbed, beaten to within an inch of his life and left for dead…
“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.
31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.
As this man laid there… as a bloody mess… my guess was… as he looked up and saw this Jewish priest coming… he thought… I am saved. If anyone would do anything… Surely, this is that man. He is a priest… He is part of my tribe, my very own people…
And it must have been absolutely shocking… hurtful… to see this person not only walk past him… but get as far away as He could.
Did he pretend he didn’t see him?
A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
The actual translation says a Levite… these were the ones put in charge of the temple by God… and again… as this guy laid there and saw this person coming… there must have been a glimmer of hope…
Maybe the priest has other churchy opportunities… but this assistant… was a guy that often did the dirty work… but instead of stopping… he followed the example of his leader… crossed the road and ignored him.
We could probably sit here all day and come up with reasons… Why did they ignore the guy and leave him for dead themselves?
Fearful that those who did it were nearby?
For the priest at least… the fear of being “unclean” could have been there.
In a hurry, didn't want to get involved? Thought there was a change this dude had it coming?
At the end of the day, they probably sound similar to excuses we make too.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along,
You can almost feel their blood boil… as they were listening… That statement… was ominous… it felt like a plot twist… not in a good way. A story that was going from bad to worse.
And right there… this man that was lying in the road likely thought…This is more than unfortunate… I am done. If ever… in the history of the world there was anyone who would mock me, kick me when I’m down, finish the job, or worse just let me lay here and live… this is that man.
The Samaritans were… HATED… by the Jews. Picture whoever you struggle with most… have the worst feelings about… disagree with the most… can't stand to be around… that's who this is…
The jews HATED the samaritans…
They’d walk days out of their way just to avoid going through Samaria. They literally did not acknowledge their existence.
They hated each other… the kingdom was divided into two, which was painful enough. The southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel…
Eventually Assyria overtook Israel… shipped some of their people out and brought foreigners in… to resettle and they brought with them pagan costumes and false gods… and in time the Jews began to intermarry with them… and take on some of those things… they moved the place where worship was supposed to happen…
They saw Samaritans as traitor's… treacherous half breeds not just enemies of theirs but enemies of God's… fit for death,... fit for hell.
Jesus goes on to say…
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
and when he (this hated Samatian) saw the man, he felt compassion (not at all the word they were expecting) for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
Jesus asked a lot of questions… and he also told a lot of stories…
Almost like Jesus knew, sometimes we have to step out of ourselves a little to see things differently… or more clearly.
I wish there was a way for us to put ourselves in their shoes… with all the relational, religious, and even political division and hate…
Jesus' response was crazy… ridiculous… preposterous… offensive and probably even dangerous.
It’s not even just backwards of what they’d expect… the truth is… even if the roles were reversed and it was a Jew stopping to help a Samaritan… that might have even been worse.
With one question…
Jesus was calling them beyond the letter of the law… beyond “duty”… and beyond debate… and into action…
But to live out… what they knew.
What do you think Jesus’ point is? What do you think He’s trying to accomplish or what point or conclusions is He trying to lead them and us to?
Stopping… even just to ask if he was okay… was going farther than anyone expected.
Caring for his wounds… putting him on his own donkey… taking him to a place he could recover… and overpaying for it all….
This wasn't the church… this wasn’t the priest… this wasn’t the youth pastor…
It’s surprising… jarring… jolting… unexpected… unthinkable… offensive…
Into a love and grace and mercy that goes beyond… and is extended beyond what we often think or feel it should be.
It was offensive… maybe even dangerous.
What is mercy…
His whole day… and everything he had planned was undone… given up…
I can't do that?
Not only… does it point to the way God calls us to be… the heart he calls us to have…
It points clearly at the way we are loved by God…
And it is the kind of undeserved love… undeserved kindness… that absolutely wrecks the way we see things…
God didn't love you only once you had your shit together… and thank God for that.
God didn’t show you mercy… when things were better…
His kindness… His mercy is what leads us to repentance… Its what leads us to realize not only the distance God came to show us mercy, love and grace… but to remind us of the distance He’s going to show that… even to your samaritans…
A gospel without compassion… refuses to see Jesus for who He is.
A gospel without compassion… emphasizes God’s judgment over His grace
A gospel without compassion… doesn't end well for you or I
A gospel without compassion… doesn’t see Jesus as the answer
A gospel with compassion… extends to even me
A gospel with compassion… causes me see God and people differently
It’s unexpected… changes the way the story goes… it interrupts our thinking…
A gospel with compassion… understands His heart and purpose
A gospel with compassion… sees His truth differently
A gospel with compassion…. Leads to living our lives on Mission
Comes with care, sacrifice, and changes lives
We realize that there is sacrifice… involved.
Surrender, submission and sacrifice…
It tells us about the heart, passion and priority of God.
It's a surprising grace… it interrupts our thinking and expectations,
A charge to the Powells…
Each staff person shares one thought possibly
Current event… or how does this hit us now?
Loving the way Jesus did…
Is the answer…